Israel Hayom newspaper cited a Palestinian official speaking on condition of anonymity, who said that Abbas is going to continue with punitive steps toward the Gaza Strip. The employees’ salaries have been paid by the PA since 2007.â

The source added that “Abbas’s punitive steps aimed at bringing Hamas to the point of breakage and retreat from the administrative committee formed in the Gaza Strip in addition to the previous sanctions, which included the reduction of electricity by almost half.”

Abbas said, during his meeting with an Israeli leftist delegation, that he intends to stop all financial support for the Gaza Strip in the near future, after promising to “escalate” punitive measures against the Gaza Strip, just a few days earlier.

Haaretz quoted Abbas as saying: “We annually transfer $ 1.5 billion to the Gaza Strip; we reduced 25% of the amount after the announcement of the formation of Hamas’ administrative committee.”

Since April, the PA has carried out a series of punitive measures aimed to force Hamas to cede control of the Gaza Strip, including the slashing of civil servants’ salaries, cutting electricity to residents, and limiting medical services and funds.